Arsenal are on the hunt for a new sporting director as they continue to search for the ideal person to replace Edu Gaspar in the role.
Edu resigned from Arsenal late last year, looking for a new adventure away from the Emirates Stadium in his career.
Since then, Jason Ayto has been interim sporting director, taking charge of the January window that didn’t quite go as many fans would’ve wanted.
With some time between now and the summer transfer window, the hunt for a new director at Arsenal is well underway.
Arsenal have five sporting director targets on the radar, one of which is former Atletico Madrid man Andrea Berta.
So with that said, here’s a look at everything you need to know about his record at the Spanish club.
Andrea Berta beat Arsene Wenger to sign Thomas Lemar
Back in 2017, Arsenal pushed hard to back Arsene Wenger in the transfer market in what proved to be his last season at the club.
While plenty of business occurred in the summer window, one last deal was pushed for as the Gunners made a £92million bid for Thomas Lemar.
The forward, who can play in midfield and on both flanks, was flying for AS Monaco as an up-and-coming star.
He decided to stay at the French club though, with Wenger saying at the time: “The player has chosen to stay at Monaco.
“I know we live in an era of transparency but at some stage, to respect everybody, you have to not talk too much about that. You have to respect what happens on the negotiation side.”
In the end, in the following transfer window, Arsenal were pipped to Lemar as he joined Atletico Madrid under none other than Andrea Berta.
The move hasn’t quite worked out for the 29-year-old as expected, with just ten goals and 19 assists in his time at the club.
However, Berta’s transfer track record follows plenty of hits and misses along the way.
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Players signed by Andrea Berta
Andrea Berta’s time at Atletico Madrid started in 2013 as the technical director, before he was promoted to sporting director in 2017.
The 53-year-old stayed with the Spanish giants until his exit in January 2025, a long spell that had plenty of success.
Atletico Madrid have often had far less money to spend than their rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona at the top, but still found a way to compete and win titles.
Berta’s most notable signings at the club include:
- Antoine Griezmann
- Jan Oblak
- Julian Alvarez
- Rodri
- Luis Suarez
- Marcos Llorente
- Rodrigo de Paul
That’s not to say there weren’t a few hiccups along the way with a couple of high-profile misfires in Joao Felix and Thomas Lemar – both of which came for a significant transfer fee.
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